Fireburn scratched from Group 1 Queensland Oaks

Fireburn has been scratched from the 2023 Group 1 Queensland Oaks. Photo: Darren Winningham

Fireburn, the $3 pre-post favourite for the Group 1 Queensland Oaks, has been scratched from the 2200m event at Eagle Farm.

Gary Portelli, the trainer of Fireburn, challenged the Queensland veterinarian’s assessment that caused his stable star to be scratched from Saturday’s Eagle Farm feature.

The dual Group 1 winner was a clear favourite with online bookmakers to win the Oaks at three years old and become the first Golden Slipper victor to do so since Miss Finland in 2006.

The filly was declared lame on Wednesday and was ordered to be scratched at 12:49pm by Queensland Racing Integrity Commission veterinarians, but Portelli maintains that the only problem with Fireburn is that she has a “weird gait.”

It follows the announcement from Racing Queensland officials that Amokura will also undergo another inspection on Friday after they discovered she was mildly lame.

Damien Oliver has been booked to ride Amokura for Kris Lees.

Having finished second behind Fireburn in The Roses, the Bjorn Baker-trained Renaissance Woman is a $3.20 favourite for the three-year-old feature, whilst last start Australasian Oaks winner Affair A Suivre holds the second line of betting at $5.50.

The 2023 Queensland Oaks is race eight on the nine-race program at Eagle Farm on Saturday afternoon.

2023 Queensland Oaks field

No.	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Barrier	Weight
1	~~Fireburn~~	~~Gary Portelli~~	~~Jason Collett~~	16	~~56.5kg~~
2	Affaire A Suivre	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace	John Allen	13	56.5kg
3	Renaissance Woman	Bjorn Baker	Joshua Parr	6	56.5kg
4	So Dazzling	John Sargent	Craig Williams	11	56.5kg
5	Tyresa	Kelly Schweida	Larry Cassidy	12	56.5kg
6	Noah ‘N’ A Deel	Les Kelly	Sean Cormack	10	56.5kg
7	Sakura Girl	Ben Foote	Opie Bosson	21	56.5kg
8	Super Chilled	Chris Waller	James McDonald	18	56.5kg
9	Madame Odette	Tony Gollan	Ryan Maloney	3	56.5kg
10	Let Me Reign	Lee & Cherie Curtis	James Orman	14	56.5kg
11	Divine Purpose	Clinton Taylor	Ben Thompson	4	56.5kg
12	Proscenium Arch	Trent Busuttin & Natalie Young	Tim Clark	8	56.5kg
13	Original Glaze	Trevor Lambourn	Michael Murphy	2	56.5kg
14	Cheval D’or	Tony Pike	Michael McNab	20	56.5kg
15	Reo	Richard Laming	Martin Harley	5	56.5kg
16	Yankee Hussel	Kris Lees	Andrew Mallyon	9	56.5kg
17	Amokura	Kris Lees	Damien Oliver	1	56.5kg
18	Caring Lass	Matthew Smith	Rachel King	19	56.5kg
19	Fireflies (1E)	Brett Cavanough	Jake Bayliss	15	56.5kg
20	Kalea (2E)	Renita Beaton	Chad Schofield	22	56.5kg
21	Rockbarton Road (3E)	Joe Cleary	Tegan Harrison	23	56.5kg
22	California Grass (4E)	John Thompson	TBC	17	56.5kg
23	Artful Girl (5E)	Kevin Kemp	Marnu Potgieter	3	56.5kg